“The Western Governors’ Association’s call for legislative changes to the Endangered Species Act opens a Pandora’s box in this hostile Congress. Since 2015, Congress has introduced more than 150 bills, amendments and riders that would undermine the ESA and weaken conservation measures for imperiled species. We cannot risk opening the Act to the avalanche of destructive amendments that would gut our nation’s most effective law for protecting endangered and threatened wildlife.

“In the current highly partisan political climate, any bill to rewrite the ESA will significantly damage the Act and undermine imperiled species conservation. The Endangered Species Act is fundamentally sound. It does not need to be ‘fixed,’ it needs to be fully funded.

The ESA already allows for flexibility in protecting wildlife and their habitat. There is always room for creative, pragmatic solutions in implementing the Act. Science, not Congress, should determine how to save species.

“We commend California Gov. Jerry Brown and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who opposed the WGA’s resolution. Gov. Brown summed up the dangers of legislating on the ESA best when he wrote in a letter to Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead, former chair of the WGA, that ‘The current climate in Congress is marked by chaos and partisanship. This climate will not result in good conservation policy.’”

Background:

In 2015, Wyoming Governor Matt Mead, who chaired the WGA at the time, launched the Species Conservation and Endangered Species Act Initiative intended to “take a hard look at the ESA—how it is working and how it is not working.” WGA held stakeholder workshops and webinars to hear from energy and mining interests, agriculture and forestry industries, government agencies, sportsmen and recreation groups and environmental organizations.

Defenders of Wildlife is one of the few environmental organizations to have participated in nearly every one of the workshops and webinars, lending our expertise on the Endangered Species Act and offering constructive proposals for improving the administration of the Act without the need for legislative changes.

Defenders of Wildlife is dedicated to the protection of all native animals and plants in their natural communities. With over 1.8 million members and activists, Defenders of Wildlife is a leading advocate for innovative solutions to safeguard our wildlife heritage for generations to come. For more information, visit Newsroom.Defenders.org and follow us on Twitter @DefendersNews.